Carriers for a plurality of articles



May 24, 1960 R. E. FINK CARRIERS FOR A PLURALITY OF ARTICLES Filed Sept. 22, 1958 FIG. I

L 5 ATTORNEY Wed W P e" Q CARRIERS FOR A PLURALITY OF ARTICLES Raymond E. Fink, East Haven, Conn., assignor to The New Haven Board and Carton Company, New Haven, Conn., a corporation of Connecticut Filed Sept. 22, 1958, Ser. No. 762,511

' 2 Claims. (Cl. 206-80) This invention relates to carriers for a number of articles and is concerned more particularly with a novel carrier of paperboard or like sheet material for use in the retail distribution of a plurality of articles having flat projecting flanges, such as a package fo'rmed by mounting an object against the face of a flat base of sheet material. The new carrier can be easily loaded and it holds the articles securely in place and has a handle, by which it can be carried. Also, the carrier can be formed in such a way as to expose areas of the articles of a shape suggesting their contents and it has a surface, to which printing may be applied, so that the carrier may be advantageously used in merchandise displays.

For a better understanding of the invention, reference may be made to the accompanying drawing, in which:

Fig. l is a view of a blank for one form of the carrier of the invention;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of a group of articles to be placed in the carrier;

Fig. 3 is a view in rear elevation of the carrier with the articles in place;

Fig. 4 is a sectional view on the line 4-4 of Fig. 3; and

Fig. 5 is a view in front elevation of the loaded carrier.

The carrier illustrated is suitable for use in transporting a plurality of envelopes or pouches containing a powder which can be converted into a soft drink by the addition of water. The pouches illustrated are made of a pair of sheets of foil or similar material and, in the formation of a pouch, one of the sheets is shaped by pressure to provide a cavity in which the powder is deposited. Thereafter, the second sheet is placed on top of the first to cover the powder and the sheets are sealed together around the powder, the sealed edges forming flat projecting flanges. The pouches shown are formed of sheets large enough to form six pouches having flanges in common and, after the sheets have been sealed together, they are scored through the flanges between the individual po'uches along lines 11, so that the pouches can be easily separated from each other. In the formation of each pouch, the cavity 12 pressed in one of the sheets has the shape of a bottle to suggest a beverage.

The blank 13 for the carrier shown is formed of a sheet of paperboard or like material, and it has a width greater than the overall width of the group of pouches lying side by side. A plurality of like tongues 14 are partially severed from the blank and the tongues have the shape and size of the cavities 12 of the pouches. The tongues in the blank shown are, accordingly, of the form of bottles and each tongue is connected to the remainder of the blank by a ro'ot 14a at its upper end. The roots of the tongues lie in a line extending across the blank and their free ends lie in a similar line parallel to the first. The blank is transversely creased or scored along a line 15 which is spaced from the line of the roots of the tongues by a distance approximately equal to the length of one of the pouches 10. The line of roots of the tongues is spaced from the upper end of the blank to provide an area 16 for carrying printing and, at its upper end, the blank has an extension 17 with a cutout 17a to serve as a hand hold.

To load and complete the carrier, the blank is placed face down on a supporting surface and the connected group of pouches is placed to overlie the blank with the cavities 12 of the pouches aligned'with the tongues. The tongues are then slightly raised out of the plane of the blank and the group of pouches is slid beneath the tongues until the cavities enter the openings in the blank formed by the swinging of the tongues out of the plane of the blank. When the group of pouches is in this position, one edge of the group of pouches bears against the roots of the tongues while the other edge lies approximately in line with or just short of the crease line 15. The tongues overlie the cavities of respective pouches and lie within the contour of the pouches and, to complete the carrier, glue is applied on the areas 13a along the edges of the blank inward from the line 15. and spots of glue 14b are placed on the tongues near their free ends. The end section of the blank is then folded on the line 15 so that the section forms a flap 18 overlying the lower ends of the tongues and connected to the remainder of the blank by the glue on areas 13a and to the tongues.by the glue spots 14b.

In the loaded carrier, the flanges of the pouches lie against the rear face of the carrier and the group of pouches is held securely in position at its upper edge by the roots of the tongues and at its lower edge by the flap 18. At the ends of the carrier, the group of pouches is held in place by the connections between the flap 18 and the remainder of the blank over the areas 13a. When viewed from the front, the completed carrier 19 exposes the cavities 12 of the pouches through the openings formed by severance of the tongues, and the areas of the pouches exposed may have a shape suggesting the contents of the pouches. The combination of the exposed portions of the po'uches plus the printed area 16 makes the carrier suitable for incorporation in merchandise displays, and the carrier can be easily transported by its handle. When a pouch is to be removed from a carrier, the tongue overlying the rear of the pouch is torn from the blank at the root of the tongue. The tongue can then be pulled back to expose the pouch and the latter can be removed by tearing along the line 11 separaing it from the next pouch.

While I have disclosed the carrier in a form suitable for handling a group of relatively flat articles connected together, it will be apparent that, by making the blank of appropriate shape and dimensions, the carrier may be employed in handling separate articles of various sizes, so long as the articles have flat projecting flanges. Also, the articles to be carried need not be of the same size and shape and, when articles of different kinds are to be carried, it is only necessary to form the blank with tongues, which, upon being forced out of the plane of the blank, leave openings, in which the bodies of the articles may be received. In all uses of the carrier, the flanges of the articles lie against the rear face of the carrier and the bodies of the articles lie in the openings left by bending of the tongues.

I claim:

1. A package containing a plurality of articles having a body and flat projecting flanges, which comprises a carrier formed of a sheet of relatively stiff material having a plurality of tongues partially severed therefrom and bent rearwardly out of the plane of the sheet to leave openings through the sheet, the tongues having free lower ends lying substantially in a row parallel to one edge of the sheet and the tongues being of such shape and size as to leave openings of the shape of the bodies of the 2,937,747 3 4 articles, an article disposed with its body extending 2. The package of claim 1, in which the sheet has a through each opening through the sheet and with its hand hold opening at its upper end. flanges lying against the rear face of the sheet, the tongues engaging the rear surfaces of the articles, a flap connected to the sheet along a crease line lying beyond the lower 5 References Cited in the file of this P ends of the openings a distance at least as great as the N T length of the flanges at the lower ends of the articles, the U ITED s ATES PATENTS flap being bent upwardly to overlie the lower ends of the 1,474,113 Harris Nov. 13, 1923 tongues only and cause the tongues to hold the articles in 2,439,390 Jablon Apr. 13, 1948 the openings, and means for securing the flap in upturned 19 2,568,625 Harvey Sept. 18, 1951 position to the sheet. 

